On April 18, Beijing time, the NBA play-offs continued. In yesterday's Western Conference play-off competition, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Pelicans 110-106, although the second place was the defending champion Nuggets, but the Lakers finally toughly got the No. 7 seed, anchoring their biggest nemesis in the first round. The Warriors, on the other hand, lost 94-118 to the Kings and went out of the tournament. The two super giants in the West are desperate for a playoff ticket, and the Warriors even have the best win rate record of 10th in the NBA division (56.1%) but cannot enter the playoffs. The Eastern side is relatively simple, the 76ers host the Heat's seven or eight card battles, the 76ers have a regular season record of 47 wins and 35 losses, while last season's Eastern champion Heat, the record is only 46 wins and 36 losses, relatively speaking, the ninth Bulls and the tenth Hawks are not competitive, and the probability of entering the playoffs is less than 20%!
But the biggest problem for these four teams is that the Celtics' 64-18 super-gorgeous occupation this season has locked up the first place in the East, and the ceiling for the eighth seed is too low. At the end of the regular season, the Bucks took the initiative to fall to third in order to avoid the 76ers and the Heat, and then met the nemesis Pacers, becoming the only team with a first-round win rate of less than 5% among the top four teams in the East and West. In the life-and-death battle between the 76ers and the Heat, the winner locked the seventh seed against the Knicks, led by Brunson, and the loser will play the winner of the game against the Hawks and Bulls to compete for the eighth seed, and neither team can afford to lose. Heat starters: Herro + Martin + Butler + Jovic + Adebayo, Rozier is out with a neck injury.
76ers starters: Maxey + Lowry + Oubre + Harris + Embiid. Throughout the first quarter, the 76ers were dominant, Harris jumper + Maxey counterattacked and layup at the beginning, Embiid used jump shots and fouls to score, and the Heat played 5 minutes and only scored 2 points! In the second half, Butler made consecutive steals and counterattacked and dunked, Maxey and Harris blossomed inside and out, but at the end of the quarter, the Heat relied on Herro and Harks to play a wave of climaxes, plus Butler's free throws, and the Heat overtook the 76ers 23-22 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Heat continued to exert their strength, Butler and Harkes continued to name Embiid, and with Love's chasing three-pointer, the Heat instantly widened the difference.
In the middle of the period, Adebayo hit a dunk in the air, and Wright hit a three-pointer in the bottom corner, and the Heat had a 10-point lead. At the critical moment, Reed and Lowry scored 4 points in a row to stop the bleeding, and then Batum and Wright hit three-pointers, but at the end of the quarter, Herro and Martin made two three-pointers, leading the 76ers by as many as 14 points, and Embiid made free throws to stop the bleeding! The Heat led the 76ers 51-39 at halftime, Embiid had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, and Butler had 10 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. At the beginning of the second half, Jovic continued to score three points, Harris made a key basket + Embiid faced Adebayo's pick-up to stabilize the rhythm, and then the two sides remained in a tug-of-war of about 10 points. In the second half, Hield counterattacked and ate cake + left-wing three-pointer to break the balance, Batum also continued to score three points, and the 76ers caught up with the score! At the end of the quarter, Harkes made a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, and after the third quarter, the Heat led the 76ers 74-69.
In the fourth quarter, Oubre's throw + Embiid's empty three-pointer, the 76ers finally tied the score! After the 76ers overtook the score, the Heat had some difficulty on the offensive end, but fortunately, Herro finally hit a three-point shot to stop the bleeding!When Harks and Butler singled to overtake the score again, Embiid's key free throws + three points at the top of the arc, Herro trained Embiid to hit three points, and Embiid completed a 2+1 response again! In the last 1 minute, Oubre and Maxey took turns to make fouls, and when the Heat lacked three points, the chasing points was too slow, Maxey's free throws sealed the win, and Herro's last three points were useless! In the end, the 76ers defeated the Heat 105-104 and locked up the seventh seed in the East to face the Knicks in the first round.
Heat statistics, Butler 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, Adebayo 10 points and 12 rebounds, Herro 25 points and 9 assists, Harks 15 points and 5 rebounds, Love 10 points and 2 rebounds. 76ers statistics, Maxey 19 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, Batum 20 points and 5 rebounds, Oubre 11 points and 8 rebounds, Embiid 23 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, Harris 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, Lowry 7 points and 5 rebounds.
Counting this victory, the 76ers have won eight in a row! There was a worrying scene after the game, Butler limped, and when he hugged and greeted the 76ers players, it seemed that the impact of the leg injury was still relatively large. Butler's current explosive standard in the play-offs or playoffs depends on the referee's whistle, and in last season's playoffs, Butler's inexplicable performance lost his mid-range shot and three-point sight this season. Although the Heat defensively is good, they are too short of scoring points on the offensive end. Congratulations to the 76ers, even if they met a relatively weak team in the top four in the East, after Embiid's timely comeback, the 76ers should not have much problem passing the first round.